I received a free sample of this when I placed my iHeartTeas order (thank you SO much, Rachel!) and so I brought it with me on vacation.

This one pinged the boyfriend’s radar (I really just give up on trying to predict his tastes), so I opened it before we left to travel up to Asheville yesterday. The smell was amazing – mostly the fruity note of pomegranate and a small background hint of green tea. The leaves were actually big and whole for being in a sample size – it looked like a sencha but without the jade green color of the Japanese green – maybe a Chinese sencha?

Ah – yes. I just looked it up and that is exactly what it is. I’m now super proud of myself for being such a good guesser.

I had this plain, steeped in boiling water (I’m not as proud of myself for this, in retrospect) for about 3 minutes. And honestly, I need to give this tea credit for not turning into an astringent mess with that kind of treatment. It still had a nice fruity note in the forefront, with a slightly bitter green aftertaste, which I wholly blame myself for.

Luckily I have enough for another cup or two (thank you again for your generosity, Rachel!) so I will hold off rating for now. I have a feeling it’s going to be something I really like, though, based on that first impression!

Preparation

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My tea habits:

*I am an unashamed Lipton iced-tea drinker (mass quantities, year round).
*I like hot teas but only in cold weather (and occasionally late summer nights or mornings).
*I love Japanese greens (the more seaweed-y the better) and good strong malty black teas.
*I do NOT love smoke in any form.
*Vanilla, cinnamon, or lemon anything will usually pique my interest.
*I’m working on pu-erh but it’s definitely going to take some time to grow on me.